The disclosure invention relates to systems and methods for diagnosing and treating internal injuries including organ bleeding. More particularly, the disclosure relates to systems and methods for diagnosing abdominal bleeding and performing abdominal insufflations.
Exsanguination is a major cause of death. A majority of injury-related deaths occur in the pre-clinical period due to intracavitary bleeding. Bleeding from the extremities can be controlled temporarily by simple methods, such as direct pressure, hemostatic dressings, or tourniquets. A variety of systems and methods have been developed to help keep blood loss to a minimum during the transport to the hospital or clinic and the initial evaluation.
However, for intracavitary bleeding, particularly in the abdomen, the systems and methods that apply to the extremities are generally unsuited. For example, it can be extremely difficult to identify the location of bleeding in the abdomen and, even ignoring this difficulty, can be difficult or impossible to apply a systems and methods such as tourniquets or even to apply pressure to the source of internal bleeding. However, abdominal gas insufflation (AGI) has been shown to be an effective method for temporary control of blood loss due to abdominal bleeding. During AGI, the abdominal cavity is insufflated with a gas (usually carbon dioxide) by using a hollow needle (for example, a Veress needle) connected to an insufflator.
To perform AGI, an assistant lifts the abdominal wall using penetrating clamps, while a surgeon inserts the hollow needle into the abdomen. The technique is limited by the need for two people to perform the procedure, the traumatic lifting of the abdominal wall, and the uncontrolled nature of the needle insertion. The latter limitation is controlled by insertion of the needle being performed by a skilled surgeon or similarly trained individual because failure to control the insertion may result in inadvertent injury to the organs or vessels, such as injury to the intestines, puncture of large blood vessels, both of which can further exacerbate internal bleeding, and the risk of infection. Over 50 percent of laparoscopic injuries to the gastrointestinal tract and major vessels occur during the initial entry phase.
As such, generally, AGI is performed only in clinical settings, where multiple individuals, including at least one highly-skilled/trained individual such as a surgeon, are available to performed AGI in a controlled and coordinated environment. Thus, though an effective means for controlling internal bleeding, AGI is generally not used in situations outside of the hospital or clinic. Thus, unlike injuries to the extremities that benefit from a wealth of systems and methods to control bleeding, intraperitoneal abdominal bleeding continues to be a challenge to control in any consistent manner in the field and prior to arriving at the clinic or hospital. Even once at the hospital or clinic, there are few systems and methods for controlling abdominal bleeding and, for those that exist such as AGI, it can be resource intensive.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have systems and methods for controlling abdominal bleeding in both a clinical/hospital setting and, more particularly, when the resources of a hospital or clinic are not available or are limited.